Whoops! Came out to be a week delay instead of the same week. I blame improper time management...and far too much time on pinterest and imgur ^^ Here is your story chapter! Hope you enjoy~


After that morning, things started to get very weird, very quickly. Each child of the Weasley clan received a letter the following morning, and after that their feelings drastically changed. Tavi wouldn't meet her eyes, and Trevet started to get up and leave the table or common room whenever she came in. Addie still talked to her, but Faen and Vi never seemed to hear her when she spoke. Regardless of what the letter from his mum and said, Emmett remained at her side. He protected her from having to face all the whispering and snickering alone. Alec appeared to have gone into hiding. He was never seen at meals anymore, and his main effects seemed to have gone missing from his room. Devoney questioned Emmett if maybe Alec had been made to go home, but to the best of his knowledge, Alec was still somewhere kicking about the castle.

"Rumours only last seventy five days…Rumours only last seventy five days..." Devoney muttered under her breath as she entered the Great Hall for breakfast, preparing herself for yet another day of mean spirited jibes. Emmett took his seat next to her.

"What does that mean?" He asked as he reached for the porridge.

"It was something my mum used to tell me when I was getting bullied at my old school." Devoney explained as she spooned some eggs onto her plate. Emmett grabbed a bowl of porridge and then proceeded to spoon unhealthy amounts of brown sugar over it. "It means after seventy five days people will get bored and lose interest."

Emmett nodded and reached down and pulled his calendar from his bag and started to count out the days. "So, I guess that means we only have seventy one days left then, don't we?" He smiled brightly at her as he made a mark on his calendar. "That doesn't seem like too long. You should even be able to come to my house over the break by then!"

Devoney gave him a feeble smile. She was used to being bullied and being alone. Emmett on the other hand, had never been in a rift before, let alone one with family. She wasn't sure if Emmett could handle being completely ostracised. She prayed he could though; she could really use him sticking around.

Devoney looked up as the owls started to fly about and deliver their packages. She never would have imagined this escalating as high as it was. She still wasn't even sure what she had done to deserve Mrs. Malfoy's wrath. It wouldn't be until later that night that Devoney would experience to just how far Ginny's malicious whispering could reach.

Leaving the Dining Hall, Devoney and Emmett headed towards their first class of the morning, Transfiguration. Since the incident of the howler a few days ago, Devoney had been a little bit afraid to return to the classroom…and to the man who seemed to know more about who she was then Devoney in fact knew herself. The last two classes Emmett had acted as scout and had walked into the classroom and gave a signal if Adair was there or not. The first lesson the same morning as the howler had been taught by the Headmistress. Devoney was sure not to skip that day. But the by the next day Adair had returned. Devoney had gone and studied in the library for the hour and a half. Today they would have no such luck. Adair was waiting for them at the entrance way to the lecture hall.

"Why, Miss Potter! I had thought for certain you were sick! After you missed my last class I almost went to the Infirmary to look for you. Thank heavens you're alright." The sarcasm was hardly masked by the sincere expression on his face. "Quickly now," He addressed the pair. "You wouldn't want to be tardy, now would you?" Adair reached down and grabbed Devoney by the wrist, as if afraid she would make a dash for it when he turned his back, and started to pull her into the classroom. Emmett followed behind helplessly. He shared Devoney's shocked expression.

Devoney started to fidget as he fingers wrapped around her watch band. She probably shouldn't have done that, for it drew Adair's attention to the ever so visible mark hidden beneath the band. Looking back on the incident, Devoney was almost certain that he knew she had it before he brought it to the attention of the whole class. He had to have.

"Why Miss Potter, what is wrong with your wrist? Have you hurt yourself?"

Devoney tried to pull her arm away, but Adair's grip held tight as he removed her watch and turned her wrist so that it was observable for the whole classroom.

"Well…" The theatrics of his voice made Devoney's spine crawl. "What an unusual scar you have Miss Potter. It looks so familiar to me….Who else has a scar just like this?" He tapped one of his long fingers against his temple as if in thought. It was at this point the name 'Harry Potter' was spreading through the students in a hushed whisper. Devoney's face turned an impressive shade of crimson. "Ah yes!" Adair exclaimed suddenly to the class before locking eyes with Devoney so that she would know the whole act of being puzzled had been nothing more than a ruse. "Har-"

It was at that point a few of the chalkboard brushes decided that they were bored of being left out of the conversation. Three of the dusty brushes collided with different parts of Adair's body while two more danced along the top of the students threatening to strike at any moment. Adair was now covered from head to toe in white dust from the attack; one to the back, another to the shoulder, and lastly one upside the back of his head. The shock of the event had loosened his grip momentarily. That moment was all Devoney needed. Taking the opportunity presented in front of her in the form of a smoke screen of chalk dust and the stunned classroom, Devoney nodded her thanks to Emmett before high tailing it out of there as fast as her size 34 feet could take her.

She continued to run as fast as she could until she was positive that she wasn't being chased. Devoney than slowed her pace to more of a speed walk, because really, the only thing she needed now was to be written up for running in the halls. Looking over her shoulder again to check for followers, Devoney took a left turn and chose the spiral staircase on the right of the two in front of her.

The one on the left lead to the main astronomy tower and was made of stone. The one of the right had a 'Do not cross' sign on it and its wrought iron steps appeared to end abruptly into thin air, giving the impression that it had yet to be finished. Devoney's eyes had nearly popped out of her head the first time when she saw Emmett dash up the tight spiral and jump off of the edge. After she forced herself to open her eyes again, she scanned the floor for her friend's mangled corpse. When she didn't see it, she started to scan the ceiling as well. Then she saw Emmett's head sticking out of the empty space above the stairs. "Hurry up!" He commanded in a hushed tone as if to not attract any unwanted attention. Devoney would have figured seeing a floating head would have done that anyway, but then again, she hadn't been in the magical world for that long. Sneaking under the 'Do not cross' sign Devoney tiptoed to the top and tentatively placed her foot over the edge. She was surprized to find the invisible surface to be utterly solid. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Devoney gave a little hop off of the platform. She then kept her eyes shut for a few moments, simply to make sure she wasn't falling. Deeming herself unmoving, she opened her eyes and studied the space in front of her.

Apparently the stairs had always had the 'Do not cross' sign, even from as far back as Emmett's father had been at Hogwarts. "Dad used to use it for late night tutoring sessions." Emmett had explained. "Except when he tells the story, he always does this:" Emmett made a series of finger air quotes. "I'm not entirely sure why, but he said that this place is quite nearly always empty. We could probably use it for studying!"

Devoney climbed the stairs slowly (she still didn't fully trust the creaky metal) and hopped from the metal to the hidden tiled room. Emmett would know to find her there after Transfiguration was finished. Taking a seat on the lone armchair, Devoney wrapped her legs around herself and opened up the textbook. At least the morning wouldn't be a complete waste.

OoO

The incident from the morning passed with remarkably less impact than Devoney had anticipated. The first year students from the four houses all exchanged a look with each other when Devoney walked into the Dining Hall, but oddly they continued on with their conversations. She wasn't sure if it was because they were scared of flying chalk brushes spontaneously attacking or simply felt bad for her. Either way, she appreciated the statement.

The night was looking to start out alright. As in, it was fine right to the point that supper ended. The minute the food had been finished, everyone Devoney had once called 'friends' stood up and left her sitting there next to Emmett. Emmett and she had just been making plans for their homework party later that night. Emmett's father had sent them a bottle of pumpkin juice and some other witchy snacks that tasted like burnt caramel popcorn that Devoney couldn't get enough of came in with the post today. Emily had also sent her several bags of Haribo gummies from her business trip to Germany in Devoney's last care package. The night promised of an enormous sugar high and a very long (and dull) History of Magic essay.

Just as they were getting up to leave, a new owl swooped down to Devoney. It was unusual for owls to approach students outside of the normal post deliveries in the mornings. Emmett watched on with curiosity as Devoney untied the letter. At the same time three boys a few years over than them approached.

"Hey Malfoy," The tall blonde from Slytherin with the high cheekbones and a rather crooked nose addressed the younger boy with what Devoney couldn't help but describe as a condescending tone. "We need to have a talk with you."

Emmett arched eyebrow signified his confusion as well. "About what?" He asked.

"We need to talk to you alone." This time the speaker was wearing Ravenclaw colours. The boy had hair nearly as black as Devoney's, but his was curly. She was certain that he had been pointed out as a distant cousin somewhere along the way, but she wasn't positive on that.

Shrugging, Emmett clearly didn't feel the malice behind their words that Devoney did. Standing up to leave, Devoney caught his sleeve before Emmett followed the boys out of the hall. She wanted to express how their words send nervous shivers down her spine, but her words wouldn't come out.

"Don't worry!" Emmett dismissed her worried stare with a smile. "I'm sure it's just about guy stuff. I'll meet you in our corner of the common room in half an hour."

A small wave and he disappeared around the corner, leaving Devoney behind with an ominous feeling. Turning her attention back to the letter, Devoney opened it and started to read. The moment she read the first line however, the paper of the letter started to weigh like lead in her hands.

O-O

Emmett walked through the portrait hole and came into the common room, a black eye and split lip now graced his face. The minute Devoney saw him, she jumped up and rushed towards him from the corner where she had been sitting in doing her homework, Min followed close behind. There never seemed to be room for her at any of the couches or tables anymore.

"Oh my God! Emmett, are you ok?" She reached up to touch his black eye. He brushed her hand away angrily.

"I'm fine, leave it alone." Emmett snapped before turning and going straight up the stairs to the male dormitory. Leaving Devoney standing there, her arm outstretched and her mouth open.

Devoney wasn't sure what hurt more. That Emmett had gotten hurt, most likely on account of her, or that for the first time Emmett hadn't trusted her enough to tell her what was wrong. She just knew it was those three boys who had called him out after supper.

Leaving everything in the corner, Devoney stormed out of the common room. There were tears starting to prick the corners of her eyes, and at that precise moment, she didn't feel like having anyone who was in the common room seeing them. Once out in the hall Devoney broke into a run. Unsure of where she was going but also not particularly caring, Devoney just ran.

After a dizzying amount of left turns and an odd number of right ones, Devoney found herself good and lost. The hall was devoid of any distinguishing characteristics or features, with the exception of a large, nondescript copper urn residing in one of the corners on a low platform. It was something you couldn't even really see from down the hall due to the jutting out of the wall right before it.

Devoney declared to herself that it was as good of spot as any to hide out for a while. Pulling herself over the lip, Devoney was suddenly very glad that she was only four foot four. It made getting into tiny spaces, like this, quite easy. She had been expecting the darkness of the urn. What she hadn't been expecting however, was the sudden disappearance of the bottom of the urn the minute she had settled her weight.

A short slide into darkness later, Devoney found herself even more lost then she had just been. At least before, she had known that she was still somewhere inside the castle. Now she couldn't even pretend she knew where she was. Miserable, friendless, lost, and now her slight phobia of being in the dark appeared to be coming back.

Great, just bloody great. Devoney cursed as she clenched her eyes tight and pulled her knees up to her chest. At least no one will miss me. She thought miserably. Devoney was completely content with just sitting there, alone in the cold darkness, wallowing in her self-pity. Apparently the night had other plans for her however.

A bright light blinded her temporarily as it flared the darkness away and then settled into a steady glow. A canvas bag plopped down from the bottom of the urn, not completely unlike Devoney's own trip down. Confused, Devoney started to stand, only to be knocked over by someone with incredibly long legs as they lowered themselves down from the top.

Still… Devoney couldn't help but think as she crashed to the floor yet again. This is probably more graceful then my first fall.

If this had been one of those drama shows that her mum had liked, right now would be the scene where Devoney would be just be slowly opening her eyes to look into the eyes of the man who was doing his best to keep his weight off her, while dust softly swirled in the air from their impact. Instead, all Devoney got was a mouthful of Alec's hair as his ponytail fell in front of him, and in turn he got a knee to his gut from where he fell on her.

Slightly winded, Alec did his best to get off Devoney, while she pulled a few long red hairs from her mouth. Brief excitement passed, they both sat there, unsure as to what to say. Devoney brought her knees back up to her chest, and Alec sprawled out his long legs.

Devoney tried to say something. She really did…Opened her mouth and everything. She just happened to close it again without any words actually came out.

After a short time of awkward silence, Alec broke through the quiet. "What are you hiding from, then?"

Devoney scowled into her knees. "Everything." She peaked up a bit to sneak a look at him. He looked so tired. "And you?" She asked

"Everyone."

Devoney looked around, slightly uncomfortable. "I'd leave now if I knew how, but I'm not entirely sure where exactly it is that I am."

This made Alec chuckle. Watching him, Devoney couldn't help but think that it looked like he really needed it. She couldn't remember if she had seen him laugh at all after the first incident with Ted.

He did, quite possibly, have one of the best laughs Devoney had ever heard though. It started off as a soft chuckle that grew and grew until eventually Alec was laughing so hard he was gasping for breath.

"That's not necessary." He chuckled as his mirth finally died down. Devoney still couldn't figure out just what she had said that had been so funny to him. He wiped a few tears from his eyes. "You must be one of the few people I'm not avoiding now."

Devoney could help but frown at his friendly smile. "Maybe I should be. Then you wouldn't have to be in hiding." She turned away from Alec's inquiring eyes. "If I wasn't here, if I had never came, then none of this would have happened. Emmett wouldn't hate me, and your cousins would want to beat you up, and-"

"Now hold on a second then." Alec interrupted her quivering attempt at speaking. "Not only do you need not fret about me defending myself. I may not have Faen's craft ingenuity, Vi's spell library, or Ted's strength, but I am no less cunning or able. Why do you think they have not caught me yet?" He reached over and put a hand on her head. "And as for Emmett, I do not even think it is even humanly possible for him to hate you."

Devoney's eyes started to well up. "But you didn't see him! He was so angry and beat up! And he said to leave him alone. And, and, and…" She started to cry. Not her normal silent tears either. These were loud, angry, and hurt tears that just couldn't be contained any more. She cried louder than any time she had been picked on in her primary schools. Louder than every time she had gotten home and had made Emily worry. Up until this moment, Devoney hadn't realized just how important Emmett's friendship really was to her. It really was the thing that tied her to the magical world, and she had hurt him. Now nobody liked her and she was so very, very lonely. Alec scooted closer and wrapped his arms around her and let her cry.

OoO

Devoney wasn't sure how long she had cried into Alec's chest, or when she had fallen asleep, but when she woke early into the hours of the night she found herself wrapped in Alec's cloak outside the Gryffindor common room. She rose slowly and folded the cloak. Devoney checked her watch, the hands read out: 2:30 am. Questions like how she got there, or where Alec had disappeared to, soon took a back seat in Devoney's mind as Emmett burst through the portrait hole, panic racing through his eyes. He ran right pass her, only to stop ten feet away and turn around quickly.

"Devoney!" He exclaimed as he raced over and flung his arms around her. Just as quickly as he had hugged her, he pulled away so he could look her in the eyes. "Where have you been? You never came back. I was really worried about you! I've been out looking for you. I was just about to go to the Headmistress!" Worry was laced through his voice and concern was in his eyes.

"You mean you don't hate me?" Devoney whispered, afraid of what he'd answer.

Emmett frowned. "Why would you even think that?" Devoney's bottom lip started to quiver. Alec had been right. Everything she had been afraid of, Emmett had dissolved with that simple sentence. She dropped Alec's cloak and threw her arms around his neck. Slightly surprised, Emmett hugged her close.

"Come on the." He whispered. "Let's get you to your room." Devoney allowed him to lead her into the common room. He reached down and picked up the cloak she had just thrown down. As he picked it up, he hesitated a moment when he recognized just who's cloak it really was. Playing ignorant to the fact, he handed it back to her and spoke the password.

"Gee Wilikers Batman."

It had been Alec's turn last to pick out the password, and his perchance towards muggle was shown in his choice.

Devoney leaned heavily against Emmett as they walked in. She was so happy that Emmett hadn't pressed her on where she had gone, or what she was doing with Alec's cloak. And Emmett was just glad she had come back at all. He had already lost his brother to the passages of the castle, he didn't need to lose his friend as well

"So, what was in the letter?" He asked as they paused for a moment by the fireplace. There was a chill in the early winter's air.

Devoney's thoughts immediately flew to the threatening letter she had gotten earlier that day. "I'll tell you about it in the morning, alright?" She was simply too exhausted to talk about it. "What did those boys want to talk to you about?"

Emmett paused at the question. "I'll tell you in the morning." He mirrored her own answer, and to be honest, Devoney couldn't be happier. Things always didn't seem as bad after a good night's sleep.

They shared a smile and Emmett reached down and took her hand. "It's all going to work out." He promised.

Devoney squeezed his hand back. "I know." She answered softly with a smile.

With one last wave good night, they both moved to their dormitories staircases and headed up to their rooms, the evening's unpleasantness left behind at the fire.

Once inside the first year's room, the sight of the heavy velvet curtains tightly set around Tavi's bed, were a harsh reminder of what was going on. Removing her own cloak and tossing in on her bed, Devoney set about undoing her skirt. As she reached back for the zipper her hand brushed against a piece of paper.

Pinned to the bottom of her skirt was a note, written in Alec's neat, loopy hand writing. She released the pin holding it in place and moved over to one of the moon filled windows to read it.

Dev,

I don't want you fretting about Emmett's injury. It is my turn to be at fault. He was defending my honour this time. He can't stand it if someone is saying bad things about his family. You need to smile and breath. You'll get through this.

Have a good day then,

: )

A small happy face scrawled at the bottom signed off the letter instead of a signature. Devoney couldn't help but smile back at it. She turned from the window and reached over to her nightstand and pulled out a leather bound book. Emily had bought it for her to keep her treasures in before she had left. She secured Alec's note carefully in place and then hid it back between her bed and nightstand. She walked over to the large mirror that was used by all the girls on the far side of the room. She straightened up her shoulders and stood at her full four foot four.

"I, am Devoney Alice Gray Callaghan." She whispered at her reflection. She was making a statement, but that statement needn't wake the other sleeping girls. "I am eleven years old, an Aries, and I have type O negative blood. I have been bullied before, but this has got to stop. I refuse to have my friends get hurt." She stared hard at her reflection as she testified before her silent audience. She was after all her own toughest critic. "This is where I belong, and no one is going to say otherwise. I will be the best at whatever they want me to be. If they think I can't do magic, then I'll get the top in my class. If it's because I can't fly a broom, then I'll get a spot on the quidditch team next year. If they challenge me to a dual, I will NOT lose." Devoney reached up and put a hand on the mirror. Her reflection reached back and joined hands. "I will get through this, and I am going to get my friends back." Satisfied with her personal testimony, Devoney finished changing and crawled under the quilt on her bed.

Tomorrow was going to be a new day; one where she'd get yet another chance to make things right and prove herself to everyone. Now that she knew Emmett would be there with her, she was confident she could get through it all.

Be darned to all Mrs. Malfoy was worth, Devoney was her own person. Professor Adiar and Emmett's mother needed to realize that. Devoney rolled over and pulled the covers close. A content smile fell upon her lips as she drifted into sleep. For the first time since that howler had arrived two weeks ago, Devoney felt she was starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

She didn't stay awake long enough to see Tavi's face poke out from behind her curtains. Tears were running down the small blonde's face. She had been so scared when Devoney had just up and vanished from the common room. Tavi had never been so frightened that Devoney may have done something foolish and was never going to come back. She lay back under her covers. She too wished with all her might that this was over. She wasn't even sure why it was happening. All Tavi knew was that she missed her friend. Older brother or not, she was going to fix this.


Thanks for reading! What do you think the letters to the Wealsey children stated? Also, any other H/Hr shippers hear about how JK Rowling admits that Hermione should have married Harry and just feel so frustrated? Bah! I know it's been ~7 years, but still! We were right all along! :P

Have a great day everyone!